Rinoa/Caraway: Paper Flowers
Title: Paper Flowers
Claim: Rinoa/Caraway
Prompts: "I'm sorry", blue, old (#89, #20, #14)
Rating: G
Summary: In the aftermath of Julia's death, they both find it hard to connect
---
She hated this medicine. It tasted like tar.
The doctors said she was still a little sick, so they made her stay in bed. She had bruises on her back that hurt sometimes and looked like crushed violets. Her Mother used to press flowers in notebooks and sneak them in the corners of bookcases. The flowers ended up as frail as paper.
“Erm, Rinoa.”
She held her hands in her lap. They were still bandaged. Her bones felt older, somehow, as if every movement was slow and tense.
“I, er... I have to go back to work tomorrow.”
She bit down on her lip. It turned white.
“It's just...Mr Deling really needs me back. Do you understand?”
No, I don't.
She smiled tautly. Yes, yes. It's fine.
“I know it's a difficult time, but we should try to return to our normal lives as best we can.”
You need to change my bandages.
“So, I'm sorry...”
Whose going to change them?
“But...”
He sighed and shook his head. A small fire burnt in her room; bed rest for weeks; with a mountain of books for company. Frost was forming on the windows, a wintry sigh etched on glass.
She wanted him to touch her, to smooth over her hair, to cusp her cheek in his hand. She wanted him to change her bandages, to wait for a brush of his thumb on her palm and that breathless rush it would create.
No one held her anymore. It felt weird. Was she even here? Or was she a half-shadow, lingering in the window?